


The Death of Integrity

by DaronwyK



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Morally Grey Hermione Granger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 01:24:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19415590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DaronwyK/pseuds/DaronwyK
Summary: The Locket was a powerful piece of dark magic. It effects everyone in a unique way, but it's hold on Hermione was the most dangerous of all.





	The Death of Integrity

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Hermione's Haven Bingo. Prompt: Horcrux 
> 
> This is a dark AU, and Hermione's choices are being heavily influenced by the Horcrux.

Hermione rubbed her temple, unable to take the constant sniping back and forth between Ron and Harry. It had worn through her last nerve and if she didn’t do something soon, she was going to snap and kill them both. She slammed her hands on the table and went over, taking the locket off Ron.

“Enough, the both of you.” She put it around her neck.

“Sorry, ‘Mione…” Ron looked down. “I forgot I still had it on.”

“Well, I’ll take it until tomorrow. You two have been wearing it too much lately,” Hermione said. “Just, get some rest. I’ll grab this watch, ok?”

“I’m sorry too,” Harry ran a hand through his hair. “I should have asked for it earlier.”

“It’s ok, Harry.” Hermione touched his shoulder gently. “You should get some rest too.” It was wearing on them all, but Ron seemed to have the hardest time handling the effects of the Horcrux. She struggled with it, but not in the same way. When the locket was around her neck it would whisper to her, dark words and thoughts seeping through her brain. It didn’t matter though, she needed to bear her share of the burden. The boys needed a break, she had to find her courage and give it to them.

She settled down outside, with a blanket and her wand. It was cold tonight, and winter would be here soon. Food that was scarce right now would soon be nearly impossible to find in the woods, and she’d have to risk going nearer to civilization to keep everyone fed.

::Why is it always your responsibility to feed them?::

Hermione gritted her teeth and shook her head. Even after all her reading, she still didn’t understand how this bloody thing was so perfectly sentient. It should have been an inert piece of soul, unless activated. In all of the Dark Arts texts she’d liberated from Hogwarts, there had been absolutely no mention of a Horcrux behaving like this.

::If you really want to know, you could just ask me. I’m perfectly capable of having a conversation with you, and I imagine you’re in somewhat dire need of some intelligent discourse.::

It wasn’t the first time it had tried to initiate a conversation with her. She had up until now been resisting, but for some reason tonight she just wanted to talk to someone who wasn’t a teenage boy.

‘They aren’t complete idiots, at least not all the time.’ She felt vaguely uncomfortable, as if somehow they’d know what she was saying.

::You’re too kind to them. Compared to a mind like yours Hermione, almost everyone is an idiot.:: A rich masculine chuckle sounded in her head. ::There’s no shame in admitting that, they certainly take no shame in exploiting you for their own gain. If not for you, my other self would have already found them both and put an end to this pathetic little conflict. I wonder if they’ll ever thank you for it.::

‘I’m not doing this for thanks.’ She huffed a little. ‘I’m doing it because it’s right and because your other self wants me dead simply because of an accident of birth.’

::Says who? Dumbledore?:: He snorted. ::While a majority of my pure-blood brethren do despise mudbloods, it would be somewhat hypocritical of me to feel the same. My father was a muggle, and a disgusting example of the species I do assure you. Someone of your talents would be ever so useful to me.::

‘Not in your dizziest daydreams,’ she replied. ‘There is nothing you could say that would ever get me to betray Harry.’

::Nothing? I do love a challenge.:: he fairly purred. ::What about the lives of all the Muggleborns in Britain, and a promise to end the evils of one Dolores Umbridge? If you were to take this locket to my other self, you could save the lives of every single muggleborn and guarantee their right to a place in the Magical world.::

‘You can’t promise me anything. You’re a Horcrux, and your other self is somewhat less reasonable.’ She rolled her eyes.

::Get my other self to agree to the terms before you hand the locket over. I can teach you to send notes through shadow. It’s not that difficult, just obscure.::

‘No. I’m not writing to You-Know-Who!’

::You do know how utterly ridiculous that sounds right?:: he teased.

‘Oh just shut up already.’ She shook her head and looked out into the darkness.

::When things get worse, and they will…remember my offer. You could be safe, valued, respected…and all it would cost is a bit of your integrity. Nothing you couldn’t live without.::

‘I could never trust him to keep his word.’ Hermione shivered in the dark. She was not considering it, of course not, but it just seemed to be the best way to shut him up.

::You do know what an Unbreakable Vow is I hope? Even someone with Horcruxes would face true death if they violated one. It was something we researched quite extensively, for obvious reasons.::

Hermione didn’t reply, just staring out into the darkness and trying to push the unsettling conversation away from her mind.

o.o.O.o.o

Hermione watched as Harry slept fitfully. Ron had left them, and things had been going from bad to worse. They were no closer to destroying the locket, never mind finding anything else. It had been days since they’d had a proper meal, and things just seemed utterly bleak. She hated that she was even considering this, but she didn’t know if there was any other choice. Tears stung her eyes as she went over to her sleeping area and drew the curtain across.

‘How do I send the letter?’ She thought, knowing he would be listening. He was always listening, always waiting. She knew he’d been watching when she’d written the letter a week ago, and then promptly burnt it. Of course, she’d written it again when the last of their food was gone.

::The incantation is _nuntius umbra_ , and you have to tap the letter twice. Visualize who it is to be sent to, focus on everything about them and make certain the letter is lying deep in shadow. It cannot be traced to you, though I would recommend checking anything that arrives in reply for hidden curses or portkeys.::

‘I’m not a complete idiot you know.’ She muttered and laid the letter down in the darkness and focused on everything she knew about Voldemort. She took a deep breath, spoke the incantation, and tapped the letter. It slipped into the darkness, gone.

She sat up for hours, waiting for a reply and dreading it at the same time. She wanted to confess to Harry, but knew that this kind of betrayal couldn’t be undone. She would not hand Harry over to him, but she would surrender herself and the locket, in exchange for the freedom of all the muggleborns and the Dark Lord’s word that Dolores Umbridge would spend the rest of her days rotting in Azkaban. She required an Unbreakable Vow before she would hand over the locket, knowing better than to bring it to a meeting. The odds were good that he’d just kill her, and a part of her was reconciled with that. She was just so tired.

She was drifting off when there was a sound. Lying in her lap was a letter. She grabbed her wand and cast a detection spell, the letter came up clean and she broke the heavy black wax seal to read it.

_To say that I was surprised by your letter, not to mention the means of its delivery, would fall very short. You have managed to obliterate what I thought I understood about your character, and I find myself intrigued. For the return of my locket, I will grant you your own life. If you wish to also save others like yourself, I will require something more. Umbridge’s fate I give freely, the Prophet in the morning will report her arrest and life sentence. Consider that a gesture of good faith. I will discuss my other requirements in person, at the place and time you chose. You are free to refuse my other request, and you will still be permitted to retain your life and freedom._

_Until tomorrow night._

Hermione felt ill and quietly gathered her things together. She left a note for Harry, telling him that she’d gone to try and find food. At the end she told him if anything happened and she didn’t return, to go to Remus. She didn’t want him alone and tears stung her eyes as she left the tent, and disapparated away with a soft crack.

She popped through into the back stacks of a library she’d once visited with her Gran. She sat down in the dark lonely stacks and just sobbed her heart out.

::There’s no shame in saving yourself, Hermione.:: The Horcrux whispered to her softly, after her tears began to abate.

‘Yes there is. I betrayed him.’ She stood and after a careful look for motion sensors or camera, walked towards the bathroom. Thankfully, it appeared that a lock on the front door was the extent of security here in the tiny public library. She washed her face in the sink and avoided looking at herself in the mirror.

It was hours before dawn, and Hermione slipped out of the Library like a ghost. She felt empty inside and knew that Harry would wake up alone, and that she could never go back to him. She wanted to apparate back and forget all of this, but she’d started this and if she backed out now…there was no telling when Voldemort might find a way to tell Harry about her attempted betrayal. It would shatter him just as surely as if she’d gone through with it.

She’d hide the Horcrux here, and then head to her meeting with Voldemort. That way, if he killed her, at least the Horcrux would be beyond his grasp.

o.o.O.o.o

Hermione stood in the shadowy cemetery, and waited. The sliver of the moon cast scant light over the grassy space. Her grandmother was buried here, and it felt like a fitting place to kill her integrity. The head the dull pop of someone apparating in and she stepped into the open. The reptilian figure of Lord Voldemort was standing there, regarding her with cool curiosity.

“I wasn’t entirely certain you’d be here, Miss Granger.” The man spoke.

“Neither was I,” she said quietly. “Who will be our bonder, for the oath?”

“I will summon him in due time. Why the sudden change of heart, my dear?” he asked, head tilting to the side.

“Your other self can be very persuasive,” she said, bile rising at the back of her throat. “Because I can’t see a way for us to win, and I don’t want to die.” Tears stung her eyes and her throat closed up a little.

“There there, child. No need for tears.” He approached. “I promised that I would grant you your life and freedom for the return of my Locket; that much is guaranteed to you. Dolores Umbridge will never again breathe free air, and I imagine that gives you a certain satisfaction.” He reached out and tipped up her chin with the tips of his fingers. “There is only one more thing you desire, safety and freedom for all muggleborns. That is something that will cost you, perhaps more than you are willing to give.”

“What do you want in return?” Hermione asked, meeting the man’s inhuman crimson eyes.

“Your willing supplication. You will take the Dark Mark and bind yourself to one of mine. If you do this…I will see that every muggleborn currently imprisoned is released, all muggleborn children will be welcomed back to Hogwarts and treated with kindness.” He smiled then. “You will have saved them all, Hermione.”

Hermione pulled back and looked at him, shaking her head. “I can’t.”

“That is my price. You don’t need to decide tonight. For the foreseeable future, you will remain a guest of one of my Death Eaters. You will be cared for and treated well. Once Potter is dead, you will be released to live your life as you see fit…unless you choose to join my ranks. There is plenty of time to make up your mind.”

“You said I’d have my freedom.” She narrowed her eyes.

“You will be my guest, for your own protection. Or do you imagine the Order would look kindly on your betrayal?” he said.

Hermione shook her head and averted her eyes.

“Very well, I will call our bonder…and remit you into his care.” He dropped his hand and in a few moments, a dull crack signalled the arrival of one of the Death Eaters.

“Remove your mask, and come forward. You will act as bonder for an Unbreakable Vow.” Voldemort commanded the man who had approached and dropped to one knee. “I believe you know Antonin.”

Hermione shivered, but nodded. Voldemort offered her his hand and she took it, her heart pounding inside of her chest as Voldemort passed the terms of the vow to Dolohov.

“Lord Voldemort, do you swear to spare the life of the witch Hermione Granger and ensure her safety and security in exchange for the return of Salazar Slytherin’s Locket?”

“I do.” He answered, and a band of fire wrapped around their hands.

“Hermione Granger, do you swear to return the Locket to Lord Voldemort before midnight tonight?”

“I do.” Hermione was glad she’d hidden it close by.

“Do you also swear to allow yourself to be taken under the Dark Lord’s protection, until the death of Harry Potter?” He asked.

“I do.” She answered and a third band of fire wrapped around their joined hands.

He spoke the final incantation and the bond sank into their skin. Hermione could feel the weight of it settle against her very soul, and her stomach threatened to expel what little contents it had left. She pulled her hand away from him and took a deep breath.

“My Locket, Miss Granger?”

“Just here.” She turned and walked to her grandmother’s grave, moving the urn filled with conjured flowers and picking up the locket. She handed it over, even as her brain screamed at her for it.

“I know that this has been difficult for you, but it is done now. Antonin, please take Miss Granger to your home. She is to be treated as guest, no a prisoner. Tonight, she has handed us the key to winning this war.” He smiled and stroked his fingers over the locket possessively. “I look forward to our next conversation, Miss Granger. Do take care.” He said and disappeared, leaving her alone with Dolohov.

“Take my arm.” The dark-haired wizard was watching her with an intense gaze.

Hermione reached out and took his arm. She didn’t care where he was taking her, after tonight nothing much mattered anymore. Even with the Horcrux gone, she could still hear it’s dark whispers creeping through her mind. She knew that she’d let it manipulate her to this, and a tiny part of her was glad that it had. She loathed herself for that, but it was true. Tonight she’d shed the last vestiges of her Gryffindor self, and revealed the survivor underneath.

The End


End file.
